


A Good Man

by cooler_inperson



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-15 04:17:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20860103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cooler_inperson/pseuds/cooler_inperson
Summary: Julian is up at night asking himself an age-old question.





	A Good Man

Curled up against his lover’s chest, Julian wonders what makes a good man. Was it empathy? Was it humility? Sacrifice? Low standards as far as he’s concerned. Even he was capable of those things.

He presses his ear against Andrico’s chest to hear his heartbeat. Was Andrico a good man? As far as he’s concerned Andrico hung every star in the sky himself, only saving a few constellations for himself to decorate his cheeks. Andrico was ethereal. A god amongst men and yet…

And yet. 

It’s hard to miss the giant scar that decorated his back. A parting gift from an ungrateful people, he once said.

(Later he would learn it was an Ayitian banishment brand, saved for traitors. For murderers.)

Julian also wasn’t oblivious to the looks Andrico received when they went to the Red Market. Nor the way merchants and shoppers alike inquired about any new ‘merchandise’.

_What need does a good man have for so many bushes of nightshade? What need? What need?_

His lover shifted quietly beneath him as he tried to nuzzle closer.

What makes a good man?

If it’s compassion, then Andrico has it by the droves. How Andrico made a living when he seemed to give away his remedies for free was still a mystery. 

Was it kindness? Julian remembers the distinct look of awe on that young child’s face when the ‘big scary stranger’ managed to make bubbles appear out of thin air. The peanut brittle and milk fudge snuck into every patient’s pocket. The half-drowned kitten wrapped in an equally waterlogged Andrico’s arms.

There was no doubt in his mind that his lover was kind. And yet…

And yet.

Julian propped himself up on his elbow. His eyes wandered across a peaceful face, a normally scowling brow smoothed in sleep, lashes dusting across cheekbones. What makes a good man?

Was Andrico a good man?

Staring down at his sleeping lover, Julian wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

**Author's Note:**

> come scream at me on my  tumblr 


End file.
